Cross-Sectoral Approach Revolutionizes Ocean Conservation

New strategy reduces cost and space requirements, aligns with UN High Seas Treaty objectives.

A new study led by The University of Queensland proposes a cross-sectoral approach to marine protection areas (MPAs), which could be more cost-effective and require less space than current methods.
The approach considers the impacts of various industries such as fishing, shipping, and deep-sea mining simultaneously, rather than separately, reducing potential revenue loss and the size of MPAs.
The fishing sector could see a decrease in potential revenue loss from 54% to 20%, the shipping sector from 26% to 2%, and the mining sector from 8% to 1%.
The size of MPAs could be reduced from 25% of the spatial plan to 8% while still achieving a 30% coverage of crucial biodiversity areas.
The research aligns with the objectives of the United Nations High Seas Treaty and its code is available online for global application.